1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure is directed to a method of dimming a backlight assembly. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to a method of dimming a backlight assembly including controlling a dimming function of light sources divided into at least one dimming area.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight unit. The liquid crystal display includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first and second substrates. The liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer that transmit light from the backlight unit are aligned by an electric field and light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer depends upon the arrangement of the liquid crystal molecules. The liquid crystal display panel displays a white image having relatively high brightness when the transmittance of the liquid crystal layer is relatively high, and displays a black image having relatively low brightness when the transmittance of the liquid crystal layer is relatively low.
In general, however, the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer do not perfectly align, so light leakage occurs in the liquid crystal display panel for low gray-scale values. That is, although a liquid crystal display panel can display an image at low gray-scale values, the liquid crystal display panel may not display a black image due to light leakage when the backlight unit provides a high intensity light to the liquid crystal display panel. Accordingly, light leakage reduces the contrast ratio of the image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel. In addition, in view of energy utilization efficiency, it is inefficient to consume more energy to increase light intensity and then block the light in the liquid crystal display panel.